Fresh talent is the lifeblood that sustains all successful organisations, but in a period of skills shortages, tapping into that critical vein of young, ambitious workers becomes a challenge that at times requires creative therapy.

Large and small organisations across an array of professions have felt the strain of late.

Some such as the accounting or banking sectors are playing catch-up from having slashed intake through the years of the recession.

Others are struggling to find new skill sets that didn’t exist just a few years ago.

But whatever the circumstances, all are having to think more carefully about what Mark McFall refers to as the “employee value proposition”.

“There are skill shortages right across the board, without a doubt,” says McFall, managing director of Change Recruitment.

“Organisations are having to ensure that they can attract the best talent, regardless of who that talent is or where that talent comes from.”

When it comes to luring graduates, one of the key factors is creating a clear path for career progression.

After studying and training as a lawyer in Edinburgh, Gaynor Duthie decided the legal world wasn’t for her, and made the switch into marketing.

She worked for agencies in the UK and Australia before returning to Edinburgh and joining start-up Genoa Black in 2013, where she is now a senior marketing manager with equity in the business.

“Although I had worked in the industry before, it had not been real experience, if you know what I mean,” Duthie says.

“It was all about making the tea and coffee, and going out to the corner shop.

“The whole ethos at Genoa Black is very different.

“It is about developing people, and discovering potential with our people and our clients.”

As the company’s original intern, she will now help head up the first structured version of its graduate programme. Running over 12 months, “Shipmates in the Making” is currently launching with two new recruits and two further graduates joining later in the year.

Claire Kinloch, co-founder and managing director of Genoa Black, says these young people will help drive further expansion at the firm, which posted a 73 per cent rise in turnover to £526,000 during the year to June.

“Graduates have been an invaluable part of Genoa Black’s growth and we are passionate about investing in the next generation of marketing experts,” she explains.

“As we continue to grow, it is exciting to now formalise this ethos into a programme that will attract a new wave of talent.”

Akash Marwaha, managing director of Hays in Scotland, notes a growing trend to train people internally to avoid getting caught up in the competition for the traditional graduate intake.

“From an employer’s point of view I can see why they might wish to attract talent early on, especially in sectors such as finance or surveying,” he says.

“Historically, these would have been popular professions and sought-after degrees. But in recent years, there hasn’t been the same level of investment in education in these professions, as other careers in IT or technology are seen as being the future.”

Another sector that has suffered from image problems is the property industry.

Hazel Pearson is chair of the Scottish chapter of the British Council for Offices (BCO), which represents architects, lawyers, surveyors and other professionals involved in the office market.

It recently announced an expansion of its NextGen Committee, which aims to support young entrants into the industry, many of whom have been put off since the economic downturn.

“Over the past eight years it has been very tricky,” says Pearson, who graduated in architecture during the midst of the recession.

“It has been long hours without a lot of pay.”

This has led to a “stale and pale” image of the industry which the BCO is attempting to overcome in part by supporting the expansion of what is referred to as “earn as you learn” – hiring staff who gain work experience while also studying towards their qualifications.

McFall says a number of his clients at Change Recruitment are taking up this DIY approach.

“Particularly here in Scotland there is a focus, and certainly more is being done, about how various organisations can help young people into the world of work,” he explains.

“We also know there are organisations looking to that school leaver population to fill some of the skills gaps they have.”

One such company is AXA, the French insurance giant that employs 200 people in Glasgow in its business insurance division.

Paul Roberts, head of graduate and early careers in the UK for AXA, says competition in financial services “is more intense than ever” as the big banks have returned from the recession in force.

This makes it difficult for companies like AXA, which doesn’t have a “natural consumer brand”, to stand out in the market.

AXA offices in Glasgow and throughout the rest of the UK have during the past 30 months embraced the modern apprenticeship programme as a way of side-stepping this problem.

These staff are brought in directly from school and are trained up in areas such as underwriting, IT and customer service, and gain qualifications in the process.

Across the UK, AXA has to date brought in 20 to 30 apprentices per year, but Roberts says that is due to expand exponentially, with as many as 200 entrants next year.

The group has also built successful social media campaigns around its student competition, the “Great Global Adventure”, in which the winner receives a year-long trip around the world with two six-week work placements at different global AXA locations.

The first-ever winner, William Moore of Exeter, gained 150,000 followers as his travels were chronicled on Facebook.

“All of this is basically trying to encourage students to think about an organisation like AXA,” Roberts says.

“We have to do this big, bold thing, otherwise we get lost in what everyone else is doing.”

One of the largest providers of accountancy apprenticeships in Scotland, Campbell Dallas, currently has 50 people under training contracts and will spend £250,000 recruiting an additional 15 this year.

Managing partner Chris Horne says this has been in response to a “major shortage” of skilled new entrants.

“The accountancy profession is struggling to attract, develop and retain young people, and is losing too many to competing sectors offering graduate programmes, such as financial services,” he says.

“Attracting university trainees is a major problem for the long-term sustainability of the profession and will impact on succession planning in the near future.

“Three years ago we set a strategy to focus on attracting and training school leavers, and I am pleased to say it has been very successful for the apprentices and for the firm.”

“Taking on a trainee and providing them with support for education and practical on-the-job training can instil a valuable sense of loyalty, leading to long-term employee retention, which makes good business sense for the future.

“Arguably, four years of this kind of practical training within an organisation could be perceived as being more beneficial than the analytical and theoretical training of a degree.”

Rory Kennedy, a partner Chiene + Tait, says it can be difficult for an independent firm such as his to attract graduate talent.

While there is a “real willingness” among graduate trainees to learn, keeping hold of them after qualification is an ongoing challenge.

Four of the eight partners on Chiene + Tait’s leadership team joined the firm as trainees, which Kennedy credits to the firm’s skill in nurturing young talent.

This includes providing a diverse experience during the trainee process, while ensuring that those who make the grade are shown a clear path for progression.

“It is difficult for any one employer to satisfy everyone’s individual career aspirations upon qualifying,” he adds.

“As a partner I have a broad experience of the various roles in our profession and I often mentor staff members by discussing their wider career options and future goals.

“By offering a sounding board to our graduate trainees, we know that after qualifying, those who stay at Chiene + Tait are committed to developing their careers here.

Equally, those who leave often stay in touch, sometimes even as clients.”